


Third Wheeling

by galaxywink



Category: Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Confessions, Daniel is dense, Fluff, Jihoon is dense, KissStealer, M/M, MuchAdoAboutNothing, Ongniel, Romance, StarryNights, They think seongwu is dense but really??, jealous!daniel, jealous!jihoon, lol, nielwink, ongwink, wannaone - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-30
Updated: 2018-03-30
Packaged: 2019-04-15 00:38:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14148108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/galaxywink/pseuds/galaxywink
Summary: Daniel finds himself the backseat audience to idol-turned-driving instructor Ong Seongwoo and idol slash student Park Jihoon’s driving lessons during Wanna One’s free time; and he can’t help but feel the need to butt in each time.





	Third Wheeling

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is to indulge my Nielwink deprived self and ofc my submission to [STARRY NIGHTS](https://twitter.com/nwstarrynights)
> 
> The entries are all so good and well-written HUHU Please read them too hihi
> 
> This was surprisingly difficult to write, but yessss it was fun to write too! PLUS It's #Boomerang('s)3rdWin today so I felt the urgency to post! Hehe Congratulations Wanna One and Wannables! I hope you enjoy this piece!

 

_**15%** _

Daniel arrives at the dorm exhausted. He had a schedule the entire day and has only had around 2-3 hours of sleep. So when he finds Seongwu and Jihoon sitting close to each other, with Jihoon casually leaning on Seongwu, laughing that pretty, boyish laugh of his, he makes no effort to temper the annoyance he feels and slams the door shut. The two jolt in surprise and crane their necks to see who just entered the dorm.

“Niel hyung!” Jihoon greets happily and Daniel finds his annoyance fade by a smidge.

For some reason, Seongwu drapes an arm over Jihoon’s shoulder and smiles before he greets him. “Hi Niel-ah! How was your schedule?” Daniel knows Seongwu probably didn’t mean anything by it. No, he’s sure Seongwoo didn’t mean anything by draping an arm over Jihoon. Nevertheless, his annoyance shoots up again. His patience drains by around 5%.

“Tiring.” He responds with a small chuckle and the two nod empathically.

“There’s chicken in the kitchen if you want Niel hyung.” Jihoon makes a move to stand up. “Do you want me to heat it for you?”

“No, I’ll get some later. Thanks.” He smiles weakly before sitting down on the couch opposite the two.

They stare at him for a few minutes before Seongwu says, “Get some rest then!” and then proceed to ignore him again.

“—hyung, let me get this straight, you had your license as soon as you turned 18?” Jihoon resumes.

Seongwu gives Jihoon what was meant to look like a casual shrug but it was obviously a humble brag. “Yeah, it was easier to go around by driving.”

“Was it hard?” Jihoon asks. Daniel finds himself just watching the two. Eyes trained on Jihoon’s curious face.

“Nah, I learned in two weeks.”

“It’s not that hard, Jihoonie.” Daniel joins in and Jihoon nods at him.

“So then, you should teach me, hyung!” Daniel wishes the request was directed at him, but Jihoon’s hopeful eyes are on Seongwu.

“Why do you need to drive, Jihoonie?” Seongwu moves closer to the younger boy. His fingers play with the hair on Jihoon’s nape causing Jihoon to jump at the contact. “I can just drive you anywhere you want.” He smiles and Jihoon laughs, a faint blush coloring his cheeks.

“That’s going to be too much of a hassle for you, I don’t want to burden you everytime.”

Seongwu squishes his cheeks. “Aww,” He coos at the blushing boy beside him, “Jihoonie, you’ll never be a hassle for me.”

When Daniel thinks he’s had just about enough of the two and gets ready to leave, he catches Jihoon throwing him a timid glance. The younger boy scoots away from Seongwu and playfully punches him on the shoulder.

“So will you teach me how to drive, Seongwu hyung?”

“Well,” Seongwu nurses the area Jihoon ‘playfully’ punched him in. “That depends. Do you have a student license?”

“I do! I got it when I went with Jisung hyung.”

“Alright, then maybe when it’s not raining, I can give you a lesson.” He pinches Jihoon’s cheeks.

“Okay!”

“Okay, it’s a date.” Seongwu grins. Jihoon laughs at this.

“Eww, hyung. Please!”

“I’m tired, I think I’ll go rest now.” Daniel says out loud but the two don’t pay him any mind. So he stands up, shuts the door to his and Seongwu’s room, and sulks alone.

He sees a stray ong seal on the floor and kicks it, sending it flying to the opposite end of the room. His patience in all things Seongwu is down by about 10% now. He feels instant remorse and runs after the seal to place it on the bed, along with all the other Ong seals. “You tell your owner to be careful.” He harrumphs and decides to get some shut-eye to calm himself down.

 

**10%**

The first time Seongwu teaches Jihoon how to drive is spontaneous. Some members were in the living room watching TV shows and lounging for the very first time in a while.

“Want to order some food?” Jisung asks out of the blue. It was already 1 PM and they haven’t had lunch.

“Yeah! I’m hungry!” Daehwi answers.

“Let’s order chicken!” Jihoon suggests.

“You have too much chicken in your system.” Woojin butts in.

“So?” Jihoon glares at him.

“Next thing you know, you’ll have wings and fly.”

Jihoon snorts. “Chickens don’t fly, Woojin-ah.”

“Then why do they have wings, Jihoon-ah?” Woojin mocks and Jihoon rolls his eyes.

“Okay, chicken it is!” Ong enters the room with the telephone in his hand. He sits down beside Jihoon before plopping his head on the younger’s lap. He dials the number of their favorite chicken place, everyone’s attention trained on him. “Oh? You don’t have delivery today? Why?” He pauses. “What a waste. It’s one of our rare free days too.” “Okay, thanks.” He puts the phone down.

“Let’s just order mcdonalds?” Guanlin asks.

“Call!” Jinyoung shouts but Jihoon frowns at the suggestion.

“Seongwu hyung, why don’t we just go to the restaurant to get it?” He suggests.

“Oh, not a bad idea.” Jisung affirms.

“Let’s just order Mcdonalds!” Woojin teases.

“You can teach me how to drive today, hyung!” Jihoon ignores Woojin and smiles eagerly, prompting Ong to sit up and give in.

“Okay,” Seongwu ruffles Jihoon’s hair. “I’ll get the keys and we can both go.”

“Anyone want to come along?” Jihoon asks.

“Nah, I don’t wanna die.” Woojin waives his hand off, getting his toys in his room for him to assemble.

“PLEASE COME BACK IN AN HOUR OKAY?” Daehwi pleads. “I’m hungry.”

“Have fun, hyung. I’d rather ride with you when you’re an expert already.” Guanlin laughs. “Fighting!”

 

The two are getting ready to leave when Daniel comes out of his bedroom. “Where are you going?” He asks.

“To buy chicken.” “To teach me how to drive!” Ong and Jihoon both reply at the same time. Daniel rushes to them and shoves Ong a bit to the side.

“I’ll come with you.” He says excitedly. “I have something to buy on the way.”

“We can buy it for you, no need to come with us, Niel-ah.” Seongwu smiles and proceeds to go out of the door.

“Thanks hyung, but I wanna buy it myself.” Daniel smiles back, his a bit forced, as he goes out of the dorm as well, leaving Jihoon to confusedly stare after the two of them before shrugging and bidding everyone goodbye.

 

Daniel finds himself at the back of the car, with Seongwu driving and Jihoon in the passenger seat.

“I’ll drive to the restaurant and you can drive back, okay?” Seongwu asks and Jihoon nods.

“So of course, you have to release the break. In some cars, there’s a hand break; in some, like this one, the break is beside the break pedal.”

“Wait, there are two breaks?” Jihoon asks.

“The one in the middle is temporary. When you’re driving, you can press on it to slow down or come to a full halt. But when you release it, it comes back up so that the car starts moving again. The other one at the far left is the one you use so that when you’re parked, the car really doesn’t move at all.” He looks at Jihoon quickly. “Understand?”

“Yes.” He nods and Seongwu pats his head.

“Eyes on the road, Seongwu hyung.” Daniel reminds.

“It’s a red light, Niel-ah.” Seongwu chuckles. “you’re always so cautious!”

“Yah, that’s why I haven’t been on any accidents!”

Jihoon gasps. “You’ve been on an accident before Seongwu hyung?”

Ong grins sheepishly. “Yeah, but it was a really minor one. Just bumped into a car really, really, really lightly. They let me off when I said sorry though.”

“You saw that, Niel-hyung?” Jihoon turns to Daniel.

“Yup.” Daniel laughs. Jihoon berates Seongwu and Daniel cant help but feel a sense of satisfaction in lowering Seongwu’s driving credentials.

 

\--

The three order the chicken and side dishes without a problem. They get out of the restaurant and head towards the car. “Your turn to drive, Hoonie.” Ong hands him the keys and Jihoon takes them with nervous hands.

“Relax, we can take our time.” Daniel says as he rubs the younger boy’s shoulders. Ong opens the driver’s door.

“Get in, let’s see what you can do.” He grins and Jihoon sighs as he enters the car.

 

“Put the gear into D1.” Seongwu instructs and Jihoon’s hand shakily changes the gear. Daniel leans in closer to watch. “Jihoonie, that’s R.”

“Oh, sorry. Nervous.” Ong’s hand immediately reach out to rub Jihoon’s leg. This doesn’t go unnoticed by Daniel, whose patience for Ong Seongwu is down by another 10%.

“Relax.” Ong coos and Jihoon nods as he shifts the gear once again. “Jihoonie, that’s D2.” Ong’s hand flies to cover Jihoon’s as he helps Jihoon shift the gear into D1. “This is D1. Got it?” Jihoon nods. Seongwu’s hands stay on top of his.

“Okay, so you can release the break and step on the gas pedal once you get out of the parking curve, okay?”

“Okay.” Through all of this, Daniel’s staring intently at their intertwined fingers.

“Jihoonie, hands on the wheel.” Daniel reminds and Jihoon nods before shaking Seongwu’s hand off his and gripping the steering wheel like his life depended on it.

The drive back was relatively peaceful, with Ong patiently instructing Jihoon the entire time, Daniel butting in every now and then, and Jihoon panicking and step breaking at almost every turn. By the end of it, Jihoon was already sweating profusely.

“Wasn’t that easy?” Seongwu claps a hand on Jihoon’s shoulders. The latter turns the engine off.

“You almost died!” The younger boy whines but he has a content and almost eager look on his face.

“No, we didnt! You’re a natural, Hoonie.” Jihoon frowns at this.

“Thanks, Seongwu hyung. I didn’t know you were this patient. I had fun!” He chuckles. “I owe you a meal.”

“Nah, a kiss on the cheek is good enough.” Seongwu jokes and Jihoon makes a disgusted face. He turns to Daniel.

“How was it, Niel hyung?”

“Hmm?” Daniel looks spaced out. “Oh, you were good! You don’t even need classes.” He exaggerates and Ong gives him an _‘Are you serious?’_ look. He backpedals and scratches his nape. “Well, you need a few lessons, but you’re more or less a natural.”

Jihoon beams at this and Daniel’s heart clenches at the way Jihoon shyly looks at the ground from the compliment. “Thanks, hyung.” He clears his throat. “Let’s all go inside to eat before the food gets cold.”

“Or before Daehwi turns into a diva and whines.” Seongwu corrects but follows Jihoon to the condominium complex anyway.

 

\--

**20%**

 

The second time Seongwu teaches Jihoon how to drive happens because of Jihoon’s insistence.

 

Throughout the car ride from their morning schedule, Jihoon’s been dropping hints of wanting to go out for a drive. His attempts were obvious because he would usually just sleep throughout the ride or laugh at the ruckus the members were causing. This time, he was proactively trying to make conversation.

“Wow, the sky is so nice!” Jihoon says out of the blue. Everyone’s busy fiddling with their phones so they just listen to him. His statement causes Guanlin to look up. The younger boy responds affirmatively. “It’s so blue, and bright, and cleaaaar~” Jihoon adds. “Jisung hyung, you think the reason why you were able to pass your license exam was because the weather was so nice?” Jisung gives him a weird look.

“Hey! It’s because I’m good at driving!” Jisung looks offended and Jihoon raises his brows at him.

“Maybe the nice weather is a factor too, you never know!” He adds with enthusiasm.

Jihoon leans forward to where Seongwu is seated. “Seongwu hyung, Seongwu hyunggg—“

“Hmm?” Seongwu cranes his neck to look at the excited boy, finding him all too adorable to be ignored.

“Isn’t it nice for a drive out, Seongwu hyung?” Daniel’s ears perk up at this and he looks immediately at his seatmate who’s obviously too pleased at the fact that Jihoon’s been insisting for a second driving lesson.

“Okay, we can go out for a drive today, Hoonie.” He says coolly. “Let’s rest for a bit then we can go out for a drive.”

Daniel suppresses his urge to speak up and instead chooses to close his eyes and try to drift off to sleep. Soon enough, they arrive at the dorm.

 

The members flit to their respective dorm rooms but Jihoon decides to stay in the living room.

“Jihoonie, where do you want to ride today?” Seongwu asks.

“I have no idea which sites are good for driving, hyung.” He responds apologetically.

“Okay. Wait, I’ll check online.” Seongwu slings an arm over him while his other hand is busy searching for spacious places they can take a slow drive in.

A minute later, Daniel intrudes on the silent pair. “Oh,” He feigns surprise. “You haven’t left yet?” He asks.

“No, we left already. At this moment, we are currently taking a driving lesson along the han river.” Seongwu rolls his eyes but Daniel continues with his act.

“What’s the problem?” He asks.

“Can’t find a place where we can practice driving.” Jihoon answers as he finds an open pack of yohi biscuits and eats it. Daniel perks up.

“I know a place!”

“Really?” Seongwu looks up from his phone. “Where?”

“Ahh, but it’s not easily navigable.” Daniel grabs Seongwu’s phone and keys in an address. “See?” Daniel holds up the phone for both the boys to see. “Why don’t I come with you guys and just show you?”

Seongwu stands up and grabs his phone from Daniel. “Let me check.” The two end up peering over the small screen. Jihoon looks up to them, eyebrows knotting together.

“You want to come, Niel hyung?” Jihoon stands up and stands in the middle of the two. “Why?”

“It’ll be a hassle for you both to get lost.” He shrugs. “I know the way.” Daniel a bit too nonchalantly for his normal self. Jihoon frowns when Daniel hands the keys of the car to Seongwu who, in turn, looks skeptically at Daniel.

“Don’t you need to rest?” Seongwu asks.

“Nah, I have enough sleep. Plus, today’s a free day!”

“Niel, you had barely 2 hours of sleep last night. You were so busy tossing and turning.” Daniel laughs and claps a hand behind Seongwu. This doesn’t go unnoticed and Jihoon only looks away.

“Aww, thanks for the concern, hyung! I’m fine!” He grabs Seongwu’s wrist and heads out the door. “Let’s go, Jihoonie!” he calls out, as if remembering Jihoon was supposed to be the student today. Jihoon gives a small smile and follows the two outside.

 

Daniel drives to the place he suggested, with Jihoon sitting at the back and Seongwu at the passenger seat.

Jihoon scrunches his nose, “Wow, you’ve taken many turns, Niel hyung. This is so confusing.”

Daniel chuckles. “That’s why I told you I’ll come with you.” He looks at Jihoon through the rearview mirror. “I don’t want you getting lost.” _‘And I don’t want you two to be alone.’_ He adds in his mind.

For a split second, he thinks he sees Jihoon frown, but it’s quickly replaced by a smile directed at him. “Yeah, thanks.” He replies, not really looking at the road anymore.

“We’re here!” He announces excitedly.

“Wow, it’s pretty secluded?” Jihoon observes as he peers outside the car.

“Right? I told you so.” Daniel looks proud of himself and Jihoon chuckles at this. He likes Daniel when he’s his usual, childish self too. He can’t help but pat Daniel on the head, causing the older boy to frown at him in feign distaste, but his ears turn red anyway.

“Good job, Niel hyung.”

“Alright! Now Jihoonie, come here and let’s begin your lesson. Today, you’re gonna parallel park, reverse park and Jihoon park.” This causes Daniel and Jihoon to burst out laughing.

Jihoon gets out of the car to switch places with Daniel.

 

“Okay so now, you know what to do right?” Ong asks and Jihoon gives him a determined look before nodding.

“Press the break, then shift gears to—“ He looks at the gear, “R- Rev-Reverse, then” Jihoon’s face turned white as soon as the car bumped into something from the rear.

“It’s probably just a small bump—“ Seongwu called out but Jihoon had already parked the car and proceeded to rush to check what they had hit. Daniel hopped off after him. Relief flooded his face when he found it was only a small shrub blown away by the previous storm.

“What was it?” Daniel asked and Jihoon turned to him, face red from worry and panic.

“I thought I had hit an animal—“ Jihoon’s voice quivered a bit before he laughed it off. Daniel gave him a comforting smile before cupping his cheeks with his hands and squishing them.

“Good thing it’s just a small shrub huh?” He smiled. His hands fell on Jihoon’s shoulders to rub them. “Relax okay? We just started the lesson.” The younger boy nodded before being turned around and led back to the driver’s seat.

“Bump?” Seongwu asked.

“Shrub.” Daniel replied.

Seongwu messed Jihoon’s hair up and pinched his cheek, “Relax, will you?”

“I will. Sorry, hyung.” Soon enough, they continued with the lesson. True to his word, Jihoon relaxed more—to the point that he hit the gutter thrice in the first ten minutes, panicked and left the car on neutral while going up a hill (which resulted to them rolling back down for a good 3 seconds), and almost bumped into an unsuspecting lamp post.

By the end of it, Daniel could only laugh at Seongwu’s stressed face. He looked more worn out than Jihoon.

“How was it?” Jihoon beamed at the two of them. “Getting better, right?”

“Jihoonie, I said relax, not play bump car!” Seongwu shook his head. “You better be thankful you’re cute or I would’ve been angry at you right about now!” He threatened.

Jihoon snorted, “You love me too much to be angry.”

“That’s trueeee~” Seongwu looked at him and gave in to the cheekiness.

“Okay—“ Daniel cut in, slightly miffed. His patience for his best friend had gone down by about 10% now. “Jihoonie, how about I take over now so you can rest?”

“I can still drive back, hyung!” He protested.

“Now, now, hurry up and listen to Niel, Jihoonie.” Seongwu said as he fiddled with his phone. Jihoon sighed as he hopped off the car and switched places with Jihoon.

As soon as Jihoon had settled at the backseat, Seongwu turned to Daniel accusingly.

“Daniel, this place showed up on the internet!” Seongwu shoved his phone to Daniel’s face. “It’s pretty near! It’s just a few straight lines with supposedly no small turns!!!” He looked at Daniel suspiciously.

“Oh?” Daniel looked at the phone, seemingly confused. “I didn’t know it was that easy to come here?” Jihoon peered at the map in question and true enough, it would have taken them just 5-10 minutes to go from their condominium, instead of the 15-20 that Daniel’s route had taken them. “I just found this on my own so I didn’t know there was an easier route!” Daniel defended.

“You wanted to tag along with us that bad?” Seongwu laughed. “You could’ve just said so!” He punched Daniel’s side.

Jihoon caught Daniel looking at him through the rearview mirror. “I couldn’t just say it—“ Daniel smiled sheepishly and Jihoon looked away.

“Aww, you’ll always be my best friend, Niel-ah!” Seongwu cooed. “Sorry, Hoonie, he got a little jealous!”

Jihoon shook his head. “I’m not going to steal Seongwu hyung, Niel hyung!” He laughed although it lacked its usual merry tone. Afterwards, Jihoon had tuned out the banter of the two older boys and resigned himself to just playing with his phone until they got back.

 

Later that night, Jihoon resolved to talk to Daniel after the latter finished his bath and before he took his turn.

The bathroom door opened, letting the steam from Daniel’s bath out.

“Your turn, Jihoonie.” Daniel smiled as he towel dried his hair.

“Hyung,” Jihoon called out and tapped Daniel by the shoulder awkwardly. The older boy turned to face him. “Earlier,”

“Earlier?”

“Thanks for accompanying us.” He said as he smiled at Daniel but his smile didn’t seem very genuine to Daniel.

“You’re welcome!” He replied, “I can also teach you—“

“—But “ Jihoon had cut him off, “You don’t have to worry so much about Seongwu hyung and I being close—“

Daniel’s eyes widened. Had Jihoon figured out that he was third wheeling because he was jealous of Seongwu? But he thought he had been pretty low key about it!

“I know you’re really close to Seongwu hyung so…“

 _Wait. “_ What? _”_

“You know… You don’t have to be jealous that I’m going to be Seongwu hyung’s favorite dongsaeng—“ Jihoon chuckled. “I know you two are something like Woojin and I—really close—so I understand, but I’m not going to steal him from you.” Jihoon’s cheeks were red and he looked embarrassed to even talk about it.

No, no, no! You’ve got it all wrong! “Jihoonie—“

“So you know, I’m sorry if it looked like I was taking Seongwu hyung away from you— I just wanted to learn how to drive—that’s all…”

“Jihoonie, I’m not—“

“Well, that’s all I wanted to say!” Jihoon cuts him off again. “Okay, good night!” He says hurriedly as he turns around and shuts the bathroom door at Daniel’s face.

Daniel’s jaw drops at the revelation and he mechanically walks to his and Seongwu’s shared room.

“Ohh! Nieeeel!” Seongwu welcomes him and shouts from the top bunk. “You’re done! We can bond more now since you’ve been so jealous with me spending some time with Jihoonie!” he laughs and excitedly claps his hand. “Jeez, who knew you’re so clingy! After we spend almost every hour together, you’re still insecure about our friendsh---!!!” Seongwu’s words got cut off when a flying Ong seal hit his face.

“Hyung you are so annoying, really!” He dives into his bed and muffles his screams with his pillow. His patience level is down by 10%.

 

 

**45%**

 

Daniel almost misses the third time Seongwu teaches Jihoon how to drive since he was supposed to have a schedule, but thankfully (for Daniel, at least), the weather was really bad, and Seongwu didn’t want to risk having to drive out. He was able to attend to his schedule and NOT miss Jihoon and Seongwu's driving lesson. He thinks this must be God's will.

So the third and last time Seongwu teaches Jihoon how to drive, Jihoon actually invites Daniel to come along.

Ever since Jihoon had apologized to him (for the wrong reason!), Daniel’s been doting on him more often-- treating him to meals, giving up sleep just to play another round of games with him, and generally just being regular, caring Daniel-- except-- well, he's been extra doting to Jihoon, and Jihoon only. The other members didn't mind, they knew all too well about Daniel's affection for their wink boy, they also knew about the driving lessons and secretly snickered behind Daniel's back whenever Daniel would think he was being subtle with his ploy to third wheel. In any case, Jihoon felt the need to inform Daniel of their plans to drive out precisely because Daniel had been doting on him more often.

“Hyung,” Jihoon peeps into his room.

“Hmm?” Daniel sits up from bed, excited that Jihoon had approached him again. "Come in."

Jihoon shyly enters the room. “I’m taking the driving licensure exam next week, the day after my graduation.”

“Oh? Who’s going with you?”

“Jisung hyung!” He thinks for a bit. “Maybe Woojin too?”

“Okay! Good luck!” He stands up and stretches.

“...So, do you wanna come with Seongwu hyung and I today?”

“A lesson?”

“Yup!” he smiles. “It’s probably the last one!”

Daniel couldn’t deny the relief he feels at the thought of the driving lessons ending. Jihoon frowns when he notices Daniel’s all too relieved expression and Daniel fixes it immediately. “Oh? Are you ready? You’ve only had a few sessions with hyung?”

“Ah,” Jihoon scratches the back of his neck. “Yeah, I’m planning to ask our managers to just teach me how to drive. I’ve had lessons before but we became so busy—so…”

Daniel agrees immediately. “Yeah, it would probably be better for them to teach you. Since they’re older and more experienced… and all…” His voice trails off and they both just awkwardly stand in front of each other.

“So—“ Jihoon breaks the silence again. “Do you want to come with us?”

“Ah! Yeah? You’re leaving now?”

“Yeah. I figured I wanna show you how well I drive….” He pauses. “Actually, I’d want a second voice telling me how to do things. Sort of like a preparation for the real test.”

“Okay, sure.” He grabs his windbreaker and puts it on. “I’m good to go.”

 

\--

“Tell you what,” Seongwu says as soon as Jihoon turns on the engine. “If you can drive us to the supermarket without any problem, I’ll treat you to chicken.”

“Hey! Treat me too!”

“You buy your own, Niel-ah. Don’t think I forgot about you throwing my baby seal at my face!”

Jihoon laughs at this. “Why’d you do that, hyung?”

“Because he’s a jealous idiot, that’s why.” Seongwu responds and Jihoon’s smile falters. Daniel groans.

“I was just a bit annoyed!” And Seongwu mocks him by repeating his words.

“Okay, let’s start! I get a whole chicken if I drive well, right?” Seongwu focuses on Jihoon and smiles warmly at him.

“You know I’ll probably treat you to chicken even if you don’t do well~” He caresses the back of Jihoon’s head and Daniel decides that Seongwu has really drained his patience now.

“Rewards are for those who do well—“ Jihoon looks at Seongwu to give him a smirk, “—and there’s no doubt I’ll do well.”

Seongwu snorts. “Okay, since you’re so confident, let’s start!”

Jihoon thanks the heavens the road is clear today and he didn’t have to encounter jaywalkers or stray shrubs. They manage to arrive at the supermarket in one piece.

He parks the car and gives Seongwu a smug look. “What did I tell you?”

“Keep giving me that adorable snarky attitude and I’ll tackle you—“ Daniel’s head never whipped so fast in Seongwu’s direction.

“HYUNG THAT’S SO—“

“I can wrestle you without any difficulty!” Jihoon bites back with faux anger and Seongwu laughs, shaking his head.

“Jihoonie—you’re so—“ He clutches his stomach, “Ahh, don’t change and stay the innocent Jihoonie I love~” Jihoon gives him a confused look before shaking his head and turning the engine off.

“I parked well, didn’t I, Niel hyung?” He turns to Daniel who’s looking like he’s confused and angry at the same time. “Niel hyung?” He sighs as he pokes Daniel’s cheek, which makes the latter look at him in mild shock. “Let’s go and get the supplies for the house—“

“Hey what about me?” Seongwu whines.

“You—“ Jihoon points to a nearby restaurant. “--Go buy me some chicken.”

“We’re not yet done with the lesson, Jihoonie.” Seongwu shakes his head again, finding Jihoon’s bravado all too adorable.

“Yes, well, I’m confident it’ll end well.”

 

And end well it did. By the time the three got back to their dorm, Jihoon’s grinning ear to ear, a box full of chicken in his arms, ready to eat it in his and Woojin’s shared room. He felt a hand pull him by his arm.

 

Daniel only watched as Seongwu pulled Jihoon by the arm. He only watched as Seongwu tried to have the all too happy, chicken loving, pretty eyed boy share the chicken he was currently holding gently, like a newborn baby.

 

“Where are you going with that box of chicken, Jihoonie?”

“I’m going to eat it in my room.” Jihoon replied so matter-of-factly that Seongwu didn’t question it further. “Thanks for treating me hyung, and teaching me how to drive.” With that, Jihoon made to turn around but Seongwu hooked his arm on the younger boy’s neck.

“Jihoonie!” He pouted at Jihoon.

“What, hyung!” Jihoon broke away from Seongwu’s hold. “I almost dropped the chicken.” He frowned. “Daniel hyung, please control him!” Jihoon whined and Daniel only raised his shoulders. He, himself, didn’t know what Seongwu was trying to achieve by depriving the boy of his chicken.

“Remember, you promised to give me a kiss for helping you learn how to drive!” Seongwu sulked. Jihoon did not expect this from the older boy.

Daniel stayed rooted on his spot. He did not expect this from Seongwu. He saw Jihoon’s brows crease but he began to laugh.

“Very funny, Seongwu hyung!”

“I’m serious! I want a kiss from you!” Seongwu clung to Jihoon’s arm and jutted his cheek out.

“No way!”

“Only on the cheek! You gave one to Jisung hyung, Guanlin and Woojin, so why can’t you give one to hyungie?” Seongwu thinks aegyo would get him anywhere, but Jihoon’s conscience has already been filled with chicken. He grunts and sighs.

“Okay, but only on the cheek!”

“Okay!”

“Just this once, okay?”

“Okayyy!”

“Only because you gave me chicken—and you taught me how to drive!”

“Okay, hurry!” Jihoon sighs again and leans in to quickly give the kiss, but in a move only Ong Seongwu could pull off, he turns his head at the last second, turning it into a smack.

 

“SEONGWU HYUNG!” Both Daniel and Jihoon shout at the same time. Daniel’s angry voice shocks Jihoon and makes the latter look at him with wide eyes. But before either could continue, Seongwu envelopes Jihoon into a hug.

“Yay! I got a kiss from Jihoonie~” He proceeds to push Jihoon into his room. “Okay, now you can eat your chicken in your room! Don’t forget to share with Woojinie~” He says dismissively, ignoring Jihoon’s protests and his new name ‘pervert’. He shuts the door behind him and faces Daniel with a knowing smirk before going to the kitchen.

Daniel turns to him. “Seongwu hyung!” But Seongwu gives him an amused look.

“Niel-ah, you better act fast. Jihoonie’s pretty defenseless, you know?” He pats Daniel on the shoulders and Daniel realizes what Seongwu had been doing all along.

“Wait, hyung—“

“You weren’t really being the third wheel~” Seongwu raises his brows. “You think I’m dumb~ but I can see right through youuu~” He says in an annoying sing-song voice and proceeds to fix empty the contents of their shopping bags to the kitchen counter.

Safe to say, Daniel couldn’t sleep a wink that night. Safe to say, his patience has been drained by 45%.

 

\--

 

**10%**

 

The week passes by uneventfully since they’re on a break from the rigorous recording, filming, and guestings. Daniel has been so caught up with the “accidental” kiss that by the time a new schedule for him arrived, he feels like it hasn’t even been that long since that day. Seongwu’s still clingy with Jihoon and the younger boy seems to have amazingly gotten used to it in record time. This time, Daniel knows Seongwu’s clinginess and flirty attitude with Jihoon is anything but innocent and natural—but he finally told Seongwu that the older boy didn’t need to kiss Jihoon for Daniel to realize that he needed to step up and make a move. It was just so difficult to find the right time, or to even make any move at all. Whenever his eyes looked up at him, he would find himself either frozen or laughing to cover up the nervousness he would feel. Jihoon overwhelmed him sometimes and looking at him for an extended period of time wasn’t doing anything good for his heart.

 

Daniel’s getting ready to leave the dorm for _It’s Dangerous Beyond the Blanket_ ’s first shooting day. Everyone’s mostly asleep except for Minhyun and Jisung.

“Are you ready, Niel-ah?” Jisung calls out. “You have to leave if you don’t wanna be late for your schedule!”

“Hyung, if I leave now, I’ll still be 2 hours ahead of schedule.”

“Oh? I heard your driver today doesn’t know much about the road, so you’ll probably go a bit slower.”

“Huh? They changed drivers today?” Daniel asks, obviously confused. Why would they hire a new driver when the old one was already so efficient and nice?

Jisung shrugs his shoulders. “So yeah, given the situation, you should think about leaving now.”

Daniel just nods and finishes eating the bowl of cereal he prepared for himself. He grabs his bag and puts on his shoes.

“Hyung, I’m leaving!”

“BRING HOME SOME FOOD!” Jisung calls from his room.

“Take care! Don’t overwork!” Minhyun replies.

 

Daniel locks the door and sighs. He didn’t even get to see Jihoon before he left. He shakes his head. _“It’s not as if you can ask for a morning kiss too—“_ He rolls his eyes at himself.

He hears the door behind him unlock.

“Hyung!” Jihoon shouts a bit too loudly but blushes when he finds that Daniel’s just infront of the door. Daniel blushes. Was he actually going to bid Daniel goodbye? Was he actually going to get his morning ki--Daniel stops himself.

“What’s up, Jihoonie?” he asks in anticipation. “Oh?” He notices Jihoon had locked the door behind him and the younger was wearing casual clothes. He checked their calendar earlier and Jihoon didn’t have anything today, or was it a last minute thing?

“I’m coming with you.” Jihoon responds and shoves Daniel to start walking. The latter abruptly stops and Jihoon bumps into his broad back.

Daniel’s eyes squint with confusion. “What do you mean 'I'm coming with you'?”

“I mean, I’ll drive you to your schedule today!” Jihoon excitedly and proudly beams at him, dangling the keys to the van in front of his face. He clings on to Daniel’s arm naturally and it makes Daniel’s ears burn. Daniel swears he has about 5% patience left before he gives into his urge to tackle Jihoon and just embrace him. Instead, he just laughs, tamping his urge to do so down.

“You can’t do that, Jihoon-ah!” He shakes his head and watches the smile from Jihoon’s face turn into a frown. “You can rest today. We have a driver to do that and manager hyung wont allow it.”

Jihoon crosses his arms. “I can drive! I have my license now!” He shoves the keys into Daniel’s face. “And hyung already said yes. He said I can drive the car today.”

“You’re a member of Wanna One, not my driver.” He pinches Jihoon’s cheeks as he coos at the adorable boy in front of him, the adorable boy whose cheeks were getting redder the more he refused his offer. Daniel walks back to the door and keys in the password. “Come on, go inside—“ Jihoon pulls back.

“—Then what did I learn driving so hurriedly for if I can’t even drive you to your schedule?” He swats Daniel’s hand away and huffs in annoyance.

“Wait—what do you mean?”

Jihoon freezes and a light blush colors his cheeks. Realizing the weight of his confession. “N-nothing, really.”

“You want to drive me to my schedule, that’s why you were in a rush to learn how to drive? Is that what you’re telling me now?”

Jihoon’s ears turn red, “You don’t have to put it that way—“Daniel’s hope soars but Jihoon looks at him cheekily, “Don’t be mistaken! I really wanted to get my license. You weren’t a big consideration for it.” Daniel can’t help but feel his hopes deflate a bit. “I just thought it would be nice if I got my license a little bit sooner, before I start uni and spend less time with you.” His voice trails off. He fiddles with his fingers, hands growing restless, and he alternates between staring at the floor and checking Daniel’s reaction. “I just wanted to spend more time with hyung, so…” He settles on looking at the floor. “Because you’re always away and—“ He cuts himself off and his shoulders droop. “Nevermind. It was a stupid thing to say.” He turns his heels and readies himself to storm inside the room again but Daniel preempts this and is in front of the door, blocking Jihoon from turning the knob.

Daniel’s flashing him a shit-eating grin now. Obviously overjoyed with the shy confession. “I thought you just wanted to get a license—and Seongwu hyung—“

Jihoon shoots him a confused look. “What’s with Seongwu hyung?”

Daniel laughs and clasps his hand behind Jihoon’s neck, as he bends down to look at him in the eye. “Here I was getting all jealous that you were spending so much time with Seongwu hyung.” He plays with the back of Jihoon’s head, fingers threading through his soft brown locks.

“Jealous of Seongwu hyung? Why?” Jihoon frowns. _He was the one feeling jealous of Seongwu and Daniel’s friendship, which was why he wanted to get a license too. Maybe then, Daniel would also invite him for a drive out? But he keeps that bit to himself._

“Honestly, Jihoonie, you don’t need to learn how to drive to spend some time together--”

Jihoon cuts him off. “I know, I just told you I didn’t learn it for you—“

“--I’ll always want to spend time with you.” Daniel finishes. He unclasps his hands and proceed to caress Jihoon’s cheek with his right hand, earning a pretty red shade on Jihoon’s cheeks. Jihoon looks up at him and Daniel is entranced once again. Jihoon purses his lips, looking like he wants to say something but holds himself back.

“What?” Daniel asks.

“Umm-- You really don’t want me to drive you to your schedule?” Jihoon asks in a hopeful tone, bright eyes looking up at him, lower lip jutted out to make Daniel say yes. Daniel decides that his patience meter has fully been drained. He groans and throws his arms around the younger boy.

“I don’t want you to go.” He suggests and Jihoon punches him on the arm.

“Oww! What was that for?”

“After everything I said, you still don’t want me to go?”

“Jihoonie, I don’t want you to tire yourself out.” He reasons. “Plus, you’ll waste your time. It’s much better for you to rest before your schedule starts becoming busy too.” Jihoon pouts.  
“Why are you babying me?” Daniel chuckles at this and kisses him lightly on the cheek.

“Because you’re my baby~”

“Eww” Jihoon makes a vomiting sound. “That’s gross, please don’t call me that.” Daniel turns Jihoon around and pushes him inside the dorm. “No need to push me. Bye.” He grumbles and judging from the way Jihoon refuses to look at him, Daniel knows he’s still a bit miffed.

“Jihoonie?” Daniel calls after him. And Jihoon refuses to turn around. “Jihoonie~” He coos and he sees Jihoon letting out a sigh before turning around.

 "Niel--"

Jihoon feels Daniel’s warm lips on his. He feels Daniel's arm snaking around his waist, and the other hand cupping his cheek to prevent him from pulling away. It’s nothing like the quick, light smack from Seongwu. It’s a tightlipped, shy and gentle kiss that catches him by surprise but it nonetheless makes his eyes flutter shut. Jihoon almost whines when he feels Daniel pull away. He breathes as he opens his eyes, only to be met with Daniel’s lips on his again, this time, Daniel’s kiss is more confident, more forceful. Daniel’s hand flies to the back of his head as he pushes Jihoon closer to him. When Jihoon feels Daniel’s tongue seeking for entrance, he gasps and tries to push Daniel away. He doesn’t need to exert that much effort though because Daniel breaks the kiss anyway; but his arms remain wrapped around Jihoon.

“You’re gonna be late.” He looks down on their shoes and he hears Daniel chuckle.

“Alright,” He kisses the top of Jihoon’s forehead. “You should go in. And maybe, instead of resting, you should think about how best to stop being so defenseless.” He proceeds to laugh at the tomato that is Jihoon’s face now.

“You remember that?” Jihoon pipes up.

“I don’t just remember it, Jihoonie. I’m angry about it.” He caresses Jihoon’s bottom lip with his thumb. “I can’t believe Seongwu hyung tricked you into it. He got to kiss you too—“ Daniel stops himself and breathes out. “Okay, you go in now before I start lecturing you. But I think we’re passing by a boxing gym later, maybe I can sign the two of us up so we can both punch Seongwu hyung—“ Jihoon sighs as he slams the door on Daniel’s face. “I’ll sign us up! Just the two of us, next time, okay???” He hears Daniel shout minimally from the other side of the door and he laughs.

Daniel finds himself smiling dumbly at the door for a good minute before being shaken awake by his manager.

“What’s wrong with you, Daniel?” His manager shakes his head as they walk to the car. “You look like you’ve gone to cloud nine?” He looks at Daniel suspiciously.

“Yeah, hyung. Something like that~” He can't wait to sign the two of them up for boxing classes and maybe bar Seongwu from ever making a move on Jihoon again.

 

[STARRY NIGHTS](https://twitter.com/nwstarrynights)

 

 


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